I recently just built a new rig, and had tested out (and sold with my old computer) an EVGA Superclocked 768MB GTX 460 with it before purchasing my HD 6850 to finalize the build. I had read the HD 6850 was not only a better card, but I wanted the extra RAM as well, so it seemed a natural choice to remedy a sold 460.

Both the 460 and 6850 run Starcraft 2 maxed with 60 FPS solid @1680x1050.

The 6850 runs Burnout Paradise consistently around 35-40 FPS when maxed @1680x1050 (forgot to get a bench of the 460). Easily Playable, though the 460 felt slightly smoother.

the 6850 runs BF:BC2 consistently around 45-60 FPS (map dependent) maxed out @1680x1050, which is similar/slightly lower than the 460, which averaged 50-60), and is overall pretty smooth.

Unfortunately, A few of my other games feel more sluggish with the 6850, or worse. For instance, games like Killing Floor and CS:S maxed out jump and stutter anywhere from 20 FPS to 60 FPS @1680x1050, depending on the amount of action or certain lightings. The skips and framerate lag make it very unenjoyable and difficult to play. Maybe its the game engines? When i lower AA and filterings down by 1 setting, everything is perfect @ 60FPS solid (both games). SO strange.

The 460 was fine at max settings. Correct my if I am wrong, but BOTH cards should run games like Killing Floor and CS:S maxed out (AA and everything) without breaking a sweat at these resolutions, ESPECIALLY considering my rig. Also, The 460 should not be outperforming the 6850, right??

Also, League of Legends has some frame rate issues not encountered with the 460...though I do believe it is possibly programming/software issues on their end rather than hardware. It holds 60 FPS except for when these issues pop up, which is very random and inconsistent.

The issues shared seems similar though. The card seems to try and lock itself at 30FPS (vert sync??) and jutters and skips around 30 to 60 fps a lot during intense action. Why is it doing this?

Overall, are these the performance results I should be expecting with this 6850? All my other hardware was tested with the 460, so I know it is all fine.

Is it possibly bad drivers? I'm using 11.5

Any input would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!Edited by Armenix - 5/25/11 at 2:16am

Did you reinstall Windows between switching cards? You could be having problems with conflicting drivers. Even if you uninstalled the nVidia drivers, there's a chance there are registry changes left behind that can affect your performance. People will recommend Driver Sweeper, but it's been known to cause problems with AMD drivers. The only surefire way, unfortunately, to switch from nVidia to AMD (or vice versa) without driver issues is a reformat.

I did a complete reformat and reinstall of Windows 7 x64 when I changed out the card, so driver issues, aside from them just being bad drivers themselves or just some random poor installation, shouldn't be an issue.

I will try to reinstall my drivers anyway and see if that provides any improvement.

FYI, I have the most up-to-date BIOS on my mobo as well, and nothing is overclocked, nor did I overclock anything with my 460.

My PSU is an Antec 550W and ran the 460 great.

Also, I did turn up everything to "Quality" in CCC, could that cause any issues?

Thanks for all the replies so far! I just want to figure this out ASAP so I know whether or not to RMA the card.Edited by Armenix - 5/25/11 at 1:34pm

Your recommendation appears to have fixed some of the problems, if not all of them, just gotta run through some more testing. ^_^ Are these drivers, and thus the options available, meant for a wide range of cards? I guess I just maxed them out expecting them to be more card-specific.

I've included a picture of my settings. Do you feel they are the most optimal for the card? (I enabled triple buffering for v-sync as well, though its not on the pic).